WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here.  

1. What are you currently reading? The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick. At the dawn of the 20th century, Lucy Muir's husband died, leaving her with two small children and barely enough money. To stretch her funds, she sold their home and most of its furnishings and rented rural, fully-furnished and under-priced Gull Cottage. It was a bargain because no tenant stayed there overnight. Because it's haunted. The ghost works hard to drive everyone away.

But the ghost takes a liking to Lucy. They learn to co-exist in his house, then become confidantes. He appreciates her and sees an integrity in her that no one else does. When he began referring to her as "Lucia," I melted. In its way, this is a very romantic book.

2. What did you recently finish reading? Kennedy's Avenger by Dan Abrams and David Fisher. Jack Ruby was a murderer. He shot Lee Harvey Oswald on live national TV. There was, literally, a world of witnesses to his act.

This book chronicles his 1964 trial. It could have been dry, but it isn't. It's factual, detailed and riveting because of the human drama represented by Jack Ruby, who is largely forgotten by history. Oswald's assassin is now a footnote, only invoked by conspiracy fetishists who need him to bolster their theories.

 

He was a confused misfit. He thought that since Dallas policemen accepted free sandwiches and coffee from him in exchange for looking the other way at his nightclub's liquor violations, they were his friends. He thought he was an insider. To the Dallas business community, he was seedy and small time. He worked day in/day out with scantily-clad burlesque dancers, but his dog Sheba was his best girl. (There's also a lot about his medical condition and psychological outlook, but I don't want to give too much away.)

 

All of this came from trial transcripts and real-time press coverage. I put myself in the place of the jurors and, after reading this book, don't believe I could have found Ruby able to pre-meditate the murder we all can see him commit on YouTube.

 

If you're interested in our justice system, this is a compelling read. I recommend it.

PS Strippers in the early 1960s had great names. Ruby jurors heard testimony from Penny Dollar, Tammi True and Little Lynn.

3. What will read next? I don't know.